The phone call still transmitted Little Sister Ye’s cries from being beaten, but the two younger brothers remained silent.
"You really know how to play your part, putting on an act over the phone just to get money. Do as you please."
After speaking, Ye Nai hung up the phone, shut off the computer, and went to bed to sleep.
This sleep was not peaceful; she did not know the truth about the family’s debt and had to go back to see. If it were true, she needed to deal with it promptly. Otherwise, once the debt collectors knew they had an older sister capable of earning money, they would eventually come for her. Would they kill or not kill then?
With that thought, as the sky started to lighten, Ye Nai got out of bed, packed her belongings, and left on her motorcycle.
By late morning, she had returned to East Ridge Suburb, found a motel, and rented a room by the hour. She took off her motorcycle leather jacket and pants, changed into a windbreaker and quick-dry pants, took out her electric scooter, and then retrieved the nuclear battery from the motorcycle trophy she had obtained during a hunt in the Secret Realm, installed it into the scooter, checked out, and left.
It was deep winter and everyone was bundled up. She rode a little electric scooter and as she stopped at the community gate to swipe her access card, nobody gave her a second glance.
Calmly, she rode to the balcony of her family’s building, released a large quantity of superpower spores which floated up with the wind through the gaps in the balcony window and into the house.
The spores circled around the house but found no one to latch onto.
The house was empty.
It was winter break; neither her parents at work nor her three younger siblings were at home. Ye Nai was not anxious; she left the community and found a spot on the street sheltered from the wind and with a view of the community entrance to wait.
Before long, amid the chilly breeze, Little Sister Ye appeared. Judging by her direction and the groceries in her hands, she was clearly coming back from the market.
On the surface, everything seemed fine.
The superpower spores that had been awaiting her swarmed in and upon entering and turning within her, sent feedback that darkened Ye Nai’s expression.
Little Sister Ye was covered in bruises. It seemed that last night’s phone call beating had been real.
"Ye Bing."
Hearing the familiar voice call her name, Little Sister Ye stopped in her tracks and turned around in disbelief.
"Big sister~"
Seeing her big sister whom she had not seen for half a year, a surge of grievances filled Ye Bing’s heart, and tears streamed down her face as she ran over.
Ye Nai caught Little Sister Ye as she leaped forward, first taking the groceries from her hand to set them on the footrest, then pulled out a packet of tissues and handed her one.
"Don’t cry in the wind, it’ll hurt your face."
Ye Bing’s hands trembled as she spread the tissue and wiped her face.
Ye Nai clearly saw that, despite never getting chilblains, Little Sister Ye had one on each hand, besides having signs of doing household chores.
Just like when she was little.
Ever since the twin brothers were born and their parents became too busy, she had become the full-time labor force. By the time Little Sister Ye was born, her skills in caring for the baby were already proficient.
Ye Nai knew exactly what hands that did chores from a young age looked like, even with her eyes closed.
"What’s going on? Did all the household chores fall on you after I left? Are they really so shameless?"
"Yes, mom and dad said it was the same when big sister was younger, so I should be like you."
"You have two older brothers. Why don’t they do it? Aren’t they afraid you’ll get hurt or break dishes?"
"If I break something, I get beaten. Mom and dad say that big sister also went through the same thing from a young age; as girls, we should be treated equally."
Ye Nai gently stroked Little Sister Ye’s head.
"What’s the situation at home now? Do you need to go home to cook at noon?"
"No need, they’re not at home."
"The boys aren’t home either?"
"Right, they went out to play after breakfast and will be back for dinner. These past few days they’ve also been nagging Mom and Dad to buy them phones, complaining that all their classmates have them, and they don’t, which makes them a laughingstock at school."
"Okay then, let’s find a warm place to stay."
"Aren’t we going home?"
"No, we won’t go back to avoid letting the neighbors see me. Last night, what you yelled out on the phone, I came back to investigate whether it was true."
"Okay, then where are we going?"
"Get in the car and buckle up, we’ll find a motel."
"I can’t go too far or I won’t make it back in time to cook dinner, and I’ll get beaten."
"Okay."
Ye Bing took a seat in the back as Ye Nai rode the electric scooter to a family hotel two streets away to book a four-hour room. They chose this place because of the hotel registration policy, which required children to be registered with an adult to prevent child trafficking crimes.
It was a spur of the moment decision, and they hadn’t brought Ye Bing’s household register, so regular hotels were out of the question. Only places like these would work, where they could pay extra and forego registration.
The room was warm, and after the sisters washed their hands in the bathroom, it wasn’t long before Ye Bing began scratching her hands.
"It’s itchy."
"You’ve got chilblains," Ye Nai touched the two small bumps on Little Sister Ye’s hand, "Does it hurt anywhere else?"
"No, it doesn’t hurt," Ye Bing moved her arms and legs a bit, her face lighting up with surprise, "Big sister, it really doesn’t hurt."
"That’s good, just leave the chilblains,"
The spores that had been injected into Ye Bing’s body had already alleviated her pain, and the excess continued to lurk, ready for the next time she was hit.
"Come, let’s eat first. How about pork trotter vermicelli? It’s the only thing I have that’s suitable for you."
"Big sister, where is the food..."
Just as Ye Bing was puzzled, a folding table suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Eh? Where did the table come from?"
Ye Nai smiled as she set the table, then conjured up a steaming bowl of pork trotter vermicelli, still emitting the warmth of just being cooked.
"...Ah?! Big sister, can you do magic?"
Ye Bing’s face lit up with surprise as she carefully held onto the container of vermicelli.
"It’s warm, can we really eat it?"
"Of course, we can eat it. I brought it back from Anyuan City," Ye Nai took out a pair of disposable chopsticks, opened them, and handed them to Little Sister Ye, "This is the only thing I have that you can eat, or do you want something else? I can order takeout now?"
"No, no, this is great."
Ye Bing dragged a chair over from the room, sat down, and took a sip of soup first.
"Be careful, it’s hot. It was packed right out of the pot."
"Big sister, where is Anyuan City?"
"In the next city over, it’s a four-hour train ride."
"A four-hour train ride, that far?"
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.
"Yes."
"Food from so far away, and still hot. Big sister, are you sure you can’t do magic?"
"I can’t do magic. What I have is a Space Superpower. I am a Space Awakened."
As Ye Nai spoke, she took out several snacks and drinks and placed them on the table.
Ye Bing listened blankly, not having access to information about Awakeners at home due to her young age; it took her a while to register what was said.
"Big sister, you’ve become an Awakener?"
"Yes, I’ve become an Awakener."
"Can Awakeners earn more money?"
"Yes, that’s why I rushed back to deal with our parents’ debts. Is it true that they’re in debt?"
"It’s true. I ran into them, and they told me to relay a message to our parents. If they can’t pay off the two hundred thousand, we’ll have to move out."
"When did you run into them?"
"After New Year’s Day, before the exams. I was so scared by them that I didn’t do well on my exams." Ye Bing said and began to tear up again.
"Don’t cry, your tears will fall into the bowl. Let’s eat first, the vermicelli will get soggy."
"Big sister, you eat, too."
"Okay, I’ll eat too. We’ll talk more after eating."